AQA Law 03- Offences against the person

Murder:

The unlawful killing of a reasonable creature under the Queen's peace with malice aforethought expressed or implied.

AR:

• Defendant (D) killed: done through an act or omission, causation rules apply.
• Reasonable Creature: Foetus (A-G reference No3 of 1994)- only reasonable creature after birth and brain people- no creatures after their brain stem ceases to have activity regardless of artificial means- (Malcherek and Steel)
• Queen's peace- murder allowed during war but not prisoners.
• Unlawful: if in self defence = lawful if reasonable force is used (reasonable- Beckford, excessive- Clegg)

MR:

• Malice aforethought: Expressed- intention to kill, Implied- intention to cause GBH- (Vickers)
• Direct intent- Mohan- desire to bring about the prohibited consequence.
• Oblique intent- Woolin- Foresight of consequence and virtual certainty.
• Transferred Malice- Latimer (person to person) Pembliton (person to object)

Murder defence: Diminished Responsibility- S2 Homicide Act

D won't be convicted of murder if he suffers from a abnormality of mental functioning arising from a recognised medical condition, which substantially impairs D's ability to understand the nature and quality of his actions, form a rational judgement or exercise self-control. The abnormality must also provide an explanation for D's actions.

Abnormality: 

• Bryrne- abnormality = a state of mind so different to that of a ordinary person that its considered abnormal. 
• Recognised medical condition: S2(1) Homicide Act- includes battered wife, depression or paranoia.

Substantially impairs:

• Lloyd- doesn't have to be total destruction but has to be more than trivial.
• Nature and quality includes delusions or low IQ.
• Rational judgement includes battered wife or paranoia.
• Self-control includes impulses and desires (Byrne)

Provides an explanation:

• It doesn't have to be the only factor causing D's actions but must be a significant factor.
• It must create a causal connection between the killing and the abnormality.

Intoxication:

• If D is just intoxicated, he can't use defence (Di Duca)
• If D has a abnormality and is intoxicated then you just look at the abnormality (Dietschmann)
• Alcohol Dependency Syndrome (ADS)- Stewart test- Was D suffering from a abnormality? Was the abnormality caused by ADS? Was D's mental responsibility substantially impaired?

Murder Defence- Loss of Control: S54 Coroners and Justice Act:

D won't be convicted of murder if he lost control caused by a qualifying trigger and someone of the same age and sex would have acted in the same way in similar circumstances.

Lost control:

• Must be proved that the loss of control caused death (causation)
• Loss of control doesn't have to be sudden (Ahluwalia)

Qualifying Trigger:

• Fear of serious violence: the fear must be identifiable not general (Martin)
• Things said or done: Must show they were of a extremely grave character and they caused D to have a justifiable sense of being wronged. (Doughty- Killed baby) (Zebedee- killed dad)
• Excluded factors: Sexual infidelity and Revenge (Baillie- drug dealer threatened son)

Same sex and age:

• Camplin- take sex and age into account.
• Clinton- Sexual infidelity only taken as part of D's circumstances.
• A-G for Jersey and Holly- No personal characteristic other than sex and age…